A Glimpse
by Sarra Salmalin
Summary: A vision that Alanna has the morning of her brother Thom's burial. One-shot. May be slightly OoC, i hope not.


A/N: I was re-reading Lioness Rampant for the 21st time in 2 years the other day, and this little one-shot came into my mind. It's just a little drabble of sorts, nothing too important. I'm not sure why, but I felt really compelled to write it down. Anyways, here it is.

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It was the morning of Thom's burial. Alanna had cried herself to sleep the night before, unable to believe that her other half was gone. She rarely ever cried, trying to make herself seem unbreakable, but her determination had lost. Even George's soothing words were unable to console her.

Alanna woke up to see sunlight streaming to hit her smack in the face. After squinting for a while, her eyes adjusted to the light. She sat up, and was surprised to hear faint music. Not like the music that usually accompanied palace parties, but almost a sweet, haunting tune. Slowly, the light from the sun shifted into the image of a small girl.

Alanna was slightly taken aback. She had not had a vision in quite a while, and it seemed odd that this one was so real, yet so mystical. The girl in her vision appeared to be about 10, with soft curls falling nearly down to her waist. She was pretty, but at the same time had a slightly unnatural look about her. The Mother Goddess had the same look; beautiful, but with a look about her that could not be mortal.

The girl opened her mouth and spoke. "Do not cry. Thom is gone, but his memory will not ever be forgotten. He would not be please if you wasted your life away in grievance. Jonathan is now king and _you _as his Champion will need to help him rebuild his kingdom. There is a famine coming, but soon hope will fall directly into your hands in the form of a man. He will be foreign, but he will take Thom's place as a mage. This man will assist Tortall in ways that Thom never could do as a mage. Welcome him in, in time he will present something that will change Tortall forever. Do not lose faith. As hard as times seem now, they will get better."

Alanna soaked every word in. She had a feeling that this girl held some important key to Tortall's future.

The girl resumed her speaking. "In time, you will forget about this meeting. I will be introduced to you, but you will never make the connection between us. Until your patron goddess returns to you and tells you to look around to find me. And your companion Faithful asks me to tell you he misses you. Apparently being with you is the most fun he has had in years." The vision of the girl started to dissipate.

"Wait!" Alanna asked "who are you, what is your name?"

"I cannot tell you that." The girl replied her voice and image fading. "Goodbye, Aunt Alanna."

Alanna remained motionless, dumbfounded by the girl's last words. _Aunt_ Alanna? You could only be an aunt if you had a sibling who had children. But Thom was dead. He would not be giving Alanna any nieces or nephews. Alanna shook her head. No; the girl must have given Alanna some title that just _sounded _like the word aunt. _Yes,_ she told herself_ that's it._ Alanna stood up and stretched her arms, knowing that the girl was wrong. She would _not_ forget their meeting. It was too ominous to forget, and meanwhile, her brother was being buried today. Alanna's mind was slightly preoccupied.

But Alanna _did _forget their meeting. It wasn't until one day years later that she realized almost all of the girl's prophecies had come true. There had been a famine due to the lack of magic in the seeds for the next year's crops, due to the Dominion Jewel using that magic to hold the land together. Hope _had _been dropped into Tortall's lap in the form of a man, Numair Salmalin. He had helped Tortall as a mage in more ways than Thom did. Instead of bragging about his abundant Gift, and raising people from the dead, Numair used his Gift to keep Tortall a peaceful nation. And things _had _gotten better. Daine the Wildmage had used her skills with animals to help in many different scenarios. The only one of the girl's prophecies that had not come to pass was that Alanna would be introduced and influenced by her in real life. Alanna concluded that it would be a long time before that came true. She was wrong.

The next morning, Daine the Wildmage gave birth to her first child.

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A/N: So, how did you like it? It's not exactly what I would call a deep one-shot, just kind of a little something. I would appreciate it if you could review, and if you hated it, say the story was a fluke. Just don't say I'm a bad writer. OK? Thanks a bunch!

- Sarra


End file.
